Friday, December 04, 2009

Like John and Charles, I had a bit of difficulty coming up with five books that fit our gift- recommending criteria. When I began to review my 2009 reading, I realized that most of the books I read and liked were older than 2008 or 2009, and many of those that weren’t were written by friends and close colleagues. Not that I didn’t read lots of new books, some of which were written by my favorite Very Famous Authors. It’s just that I didn’t like a lot of them.

It’s probably me. It seemed to me that there were a lot of really dark and downer books published over the past couple of years. I know good writing when I see it, and said downer novels were for the most part excellently crafted. I was simply not in the mood to appreciate them.

1. Having said that, I did choose Louise Ure’s Liars Anonymous as one of my recom

eries. Her characters are often pretty flawed themselves. What I like about all her novels is her really great ideas for both plot and protagonist. In her 2008 book, The Fault Tree, the protagonist is a blind female auto mechanic who witnesses a murder. In Liars Anonymous, roadside assistance operator Jessie Dancing thinks she hears someone being murdered while she’s on the phone with him. Oh, and there’s so much more to it than that...

2. During a discussion about great novel beginnings, my editor, Barbara Peters, told me that Stephen Hunter’s Night of Thunder has not only one of the most effective beginnings she ever read, but the last page knocked her socks off. When Barbara Peters’ socks get knocked off, that is some book, so of course I acquired this prodigy ASAP.

My dirty little secret is that I’m a sucker for manly man thrillers, and boy, is this one. The story is set at a week-long NASCAR event in Bristol, Tennessee. It’s filled with Deliverance-style gangsters, corrupt lawmen, burning rubber, and ex-Marine Special Forces top kick Bob Lee Swagger out to find whoever put his daughter in a coma. And wait till you read the last page. Kee-rap, y’all!

3. Rhys Bowen’s Royal Flush is the third installment in her ‘Royal Spyness’ series, set in the early 1930s and featuring Lady Georgiana Rannoch. Georgie is a penniless minor royal, who makes a little money by secretly cleaning houses, and does a bit of spying on the side for Queen Mary. Bowen writes three different series, all of which I enjoy very much, but the Spyness books are light, and have a humor and feeling for the time and place which remind me somewhat of Kerry Greenwood’s ‘Phrynne Fisher’ books. This series also has a little bit of that P.G. Wodehouse subversive disrespect for the British higher classes.

4. Historical novels are my first love, and big old honking historical tomes a la Edward Rutherford, Colleen McCollough, or James Michener are right up my alley. Steven Saylor’s Roma is an episodic novel which covers 1000 years, from the time of Rome’s first settlement on an island in the Tiber River, to the assassination of Caesar. Saylor is the author of the beautifully written ‘Gordianus the Finder’ mystery series set in Rome at the end of the Republic.

5. Louise Penny had two books out this year - A Rule Against Murder in January, and The

Brutal Telling last month. It was hard to decide between the two, so I won’t. I’m always immediately carried away by Louise’s almost mythical tales, and I love intuitive and compassionate Inspector Gamache and his family-like team of homicide detectives. The beautiful Quebecois setting is exotic, to this Southerner, at least,

and if you don’t come away from reading these books with an unreasonable longing to leave everything behind and go on a quest for your own Three Pines, then I just don’t know about you.

Bonus recommendation: Like to eat? Ever heard of the Pioneer Woman? I hadn’t either, until last summer, when my sister in Joplin, MO, told me about her. Ree Drummond is a young woman who left her birth state of Oklahoma in a frenzy to get away to the sophisticated civilization of California (I can relate), went back home to visit family, met “Marlboro Man", married him, and, in her own words, “went from spoiled city girl to domestic ranch wife in the blink of an eye.” She lives way out in the Oklahoma boonies, homeschools her kids, cooks up a storm, and writes the most fascinating blog you ever read. She just came out with a cookbook entitled Pioneer Woman Cooks, full of “recipes, cows, children, and butter.” What fun! I was talking to Gayle Shanks, owner of Tempe's fabulous local independent bookstore, Changing Hands, who told me that when Ree’s publisher called to arrange a signing last month, she almost demurred because she didn’t know about Pioneer Woman. She’s glad she didn’t, because the publisher sent her 400 copies of the cookbook, and they all sold out in a week, before Ree even got there. The publisher sent another 400, which arrived the day before Ree’s event. They’re sold out again. Ree’s website, www.thepioneerwoman.com, gets about 13 million page views a month. You heard right.

I’m so pleased to inform you, Dear Reader, that tomorrow’s guest blogger is Kris Neri, owner of The Well Red Coyote Bookstore in Sedona, Arizona, and successful mystery novelist in her own right. Do not miss her!

jiang When you will decide pandora sale to find jewelry for mom you may need to remember what your mom really needs. If my pandora jewellery uk spouse help rife with rings, then investing in a ring that she will likely for no reason put on pandora shop couldn't survive the ideal choice.Aside via getting Bracelets coming from a regular bracelets retail store, rings can also be purchased pandora 2010 from virtual stores. The beauty of buying on the internet is you get to see every thing your gives, where in a shop it can be hard to kind though their own inventory to uncover the right thing. Mothers love pandora jewelry gifts which might be memorable. Make an effort to present your mom having a surprise that is personalized, for example an cheap pandora bracelets engagement ring utilizing their name engraved in it. Gold rings make for great gifts since they immortalize your mom's name in gold. A gold necklace and a pendant pandora charm bracelets produces a very good gifts for your mom, and gifts which might be most often overlooked . Avoid getting in a hurry to get a present for ones mom. Start pandora bracelet charms searching ahead of time; waiting until the last second to find a found is often getting problems.Spending some time to learn what an individual's Mum would like pandora bangles as well as might help guarantee that your sweetheart gets the top found. If you opt for necklaces regarding Mom online will assist cut down the amount of time necessary pandora bangle to discover the proper jewelry pertaining to mama despite the fact that have waited through to the very end. Therefore when your going looking for mother's day, on the liner where to begin from.

Rick Blechta writes on Tuesdays

Barbara Fradkin writes on alternate Wednesdays

Sybil Johnson writes on Alternate Wednesdays

John Corrigan writes on alternate Thursdays

Donis Casey writes on alternate Thursdays

Charlotte Hinger writes on alternate Fridays

Frankie Bailey writes on Alternate Fridays

Vicki Delany writes on the second weekend of every month

Mario Acevedo writes on the 4th Saturday of each month

Aline Templeton

Aline Templeton lives in Edinburgh in a house with a balcony overlooking the beautiful city skyline. Her series featuring DI Marjory Fleming is set in beautiful Galloway, in South-west Scotland. alinetempleton.co.uk

Marianne Wheelaghan

Marianne is from Edinburgh. She left home at seventeen. After a heap of travelling, which included living in Kiribati, the third most remote country in the world, she ended back in Edinburgh where she still lives very happily. Her crime mysteries feature DS Louisa Townsend, The Scottish Lady Detective, and are mostly set in the Pacific. Read more about Marianne and her books on her blog: www.mariannewheelaghan.co.uk and at @MWheelaghan

Rick Blechta

Rick has two passions in life, mysteries and music, and his thrillers contain liberal doses of both. He has two upcoming releases, Roses for a Diva, his sequel to The Fallen One, for Dundurn Press, and for Orca’s Rapid Reads series, The Boom Room, a second book featuring detectives Pratt & Ellis. You can learn more about what he’s up to at www.rickblechta.com. From the musical side, Rick leads a classic soul band in Toronto. Check out SOULidifiedband.com. And lastly, being a former line cook with an interest in all things culinary, he has a blog dedicated to food: A Man for All Seasonings.

Barbara Fradkin

Barbara Fradkin is a retired psychologist with a fascination for how we turn bad. Her dark short stories haunt the Ladies Killing Circle anthologies, but she is best known for her award-winning series featuring the quixotic, exasperating Ottawa Police Inspector Michael Green, published by Dundurn Press. The ninth book, The Whisper of Legends, was published in April 2013. Visit Barbara at barbarafradkin.com.

Sybil Johnson

Sybil Johnson’s love affair with reading began in kindergarten with “The Three Little Pigs.” Visits to the library introduced her to Encyclopedia Brown, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and a host of other characters. Fast forward to college where she continued reading while studying Computer Science. After a rewarding career in the computer industry, Sybil decided to try her hand at writing mysteries. Her short fiction has appeared in Mysterical-E and Spinetingler Magazine, among others. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in Southern California where she enjoys tole painting, studying ancient languages and spending time with friends and family. Find her at www.authorsybiljohnson.com.

John R Corrigan

John R. Corrigan is D.A. Keeley, author of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent Peyton Cote series, which is set along the Maine-Canada border. Bitter Crossing (summer 2014) will be the first of at least three novels in the series. Born in Augusta, Maine, he lives with his wife and three daughters at Northfield Mount Hermon School in western Massachusetts, where he is English department chair, a teacher, a hockey coach, and may very well be the only mystery writer in North America who also serves as a dorm parent to 50 teenage girls. A Mainer through and through, he tries to get to Old Orchard Beach, Maine, as often as possible. You can see what he's up to by visiting www.amazon.com/author/DAKeeley or dakeeleyauthor.blogspot.com or on Twitter (@DAKeeleyAuthor).

Donis Casey

Donis is the author of six Alafair Tucker Mysteries. Her award-winning series, featuring the sleuthing mother of ten children, is set in Oklahoma during the booming 1910s. Donis is a former teacher, academic librarian, and entrepreneur. She lives in Tempe, AZ, with her husband, poet Donald Koozer. The latest Alafair Tucker novel, The Wrong Hill to Die On (Poisoned Pen Press, 2012), is available in paper or electronic format wherever books are sold. Readers can enjoy the first chapter of each book on her web site at www.doniscasey.com.

Frankie Bailey

Frankie Y. Bailey is a criminal justice professor who focuses on crime, history, and American culture. Her current project is a book about dress, appearance, and criminal justice. Her mystery series featuring crime historian Lizzie Stuart is set mainly in the South. Her near-future police procedural series featuring Detective Hannah McCabe is set in Albany, New York. Visit Frankie at frankieybailey.com.

Charlotte Hinger

Charlotte Hinger is a novelist and Western Kansas historian. Convinced that mystery writing and historical investigation go hand in hand, she now applies her MA in history to academic articles and her depraved imagination to the Lottie Albright series for Poisoned Pen Press. charlottehinger.com

Vicki Delany/Eva Gates

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers. She is the author of more than 25 books, including the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, the Year Round Christmas cozy series, the Constable Molly Smith books, standalone novels of suspense, the Klondike Gold Rush series, and novellas for adult literacy. As Eva Gates, she is the author of the national bestselling Lighthouse Library cozy series from Penguin. Find Vicki at www.vickidelany.com and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor/

Mario Acevedo

Mario Acevedo is the author of the Felix Gomez detective-vampire series. His short fiction is included in the anthologies, You Don’t Have A Clue: Latino Mystery Stories for Teens and Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery, and in Modern Drunkard Magazine. Mario lives with a dog in Denver, CO. His website is marioacevedo.com.